Saint Damasus I, Pope

Saint Damasus I was born around 305, either in Rome or in Hispania, and came to Rome while still young with his parents, Antonius and Laurentia. Formed in the Church of Saint Lawrence, where his father served as a priest, Damasus became first a deacon and then a priest, later serving as archdeacon of the Roman Church. After Pope Liberius died in 366, Damasus was elected bishop of Rome amid bitter factional conflict; though the struggle was marked by grave violence, the Church ultimately recognized him as the true pope. As shepherd of the Church in a decisive era for Christian unity, Damasus defended the faith against heresies such as Apollinarianism and Macedonianism, and worked to heal divisions, including tensions with the Church of Antioch. He presided over the Council of Rome in 382, which set forth the canonical list of Sacred Scripture, and he encouraged Saint Jerome’s work that would become the Latin Vulgate. Damasus also promoted devotion to the martyrs and left Latin verse honoring the saints—reasons he is honored as patron of archaeologists. His feast day is December 11.